No School Tomorrow

Dear all,

I hope you are all well.

There are snow days.  There are days when the day is too hot to have school.  I even remember a day with too much wind.  Yet, tomorrow is a first for the children.  Tomorrow school is cancelled because of the fire danger.

Tomorrow the wind is supposed to shift to come from the North.  It has the danger of pushing the fire in our direction.  Given that this particular fire has already burned 350,000 acres we probably want to stay out of its way.

Over the past couple of weeks we have felt like we were reliving the Clash song, "should I stay or should I go?"  Yet, I think tomorrow we will once again head out to downtown Melbourne and out of the woods and the hills.

Be well,

Nord

Footy

Dear all,

By Thursday evening we were all pretty worn out.  It had been almost a week of trying decipher the warnings, the weather forecasts, the departure of friends / neighbors to other locations, and even the clouds (smoke or water?).  The good news was that the weather seemed to be holding and the early predictions of dangerous shifting winds appeared to be incorrect.  Yet, for our sanity and peace of mind we decided to take Helen and Guy's (the homeowners) incredibly generous offer to stay with their son in the city for the weekend.  

Then, just to prove what sports Australians really are, Helen and Guy joined us for an Australian Rules Football (aka, "Footy") game in downtown Melbourne on Friday evening..  

The evening was wonderful.   The weather was beautiful, a cool breeze, clear sky, and a red moon shining overhead (a reminder of the smoke we had left behind in the hills).  The seats were great and the game was fast paced and exciting.  Essendon beat the Western Bulldogs in the last minute of play.  And, fortunately, Helen avoided being showered in beer during a wild scramble for the ball that landed in the stands near us.

The next day we went to a cafe where one of Margaret's school friends works and then to the Art Museum.  The Art Museum (National Gallery of Victoria) was really quite incredible and free (!!!).  I can honestly say that all the family enjoyed it ... and that says a lot about an art museum.

By the end of the afternoon we felt like we had had a real vacation from our last week and had a much more positive attitude as we headed back to Yarra Junction.

Good progress continued to be made against the fires over the weekend and it looks like next week will allow us to breathe easier - in multiple ways.

I will leave you with a few photos from the past week.  First ones from our house, then a few from the local area that have been sent around.

Be well,

Nord

This photo was taken early in the afternoon on the first day of the fires (Saturday) as the smoke started coming in from the surrounding hills.

This is a bit later in the afternoon - when there is still supposed to be full sunlight.  The sky above Lincoln and Margaret is black from the smoke coming from the hills behind the house. 

 

The final three are pictures of some of the fires - it certainly gives you a sense of how incredibly fortunate we are.

The Fires

Dear all,

We are now into day four of the bushfires.  While the story has left the US headlines, unfortunately the fires burn on.

This is such a strange part of this journey.  This event is traumatic for so many communities here and has brought into question many issues ranging from fire fighting strategies to forestry practices to climate change.  When the fires first started, we had assumed, as newcomers, that this was a pretty common situation.  Yet, we are realizing that this is highly unusual and really presents a major challenge for the years ahead.  The question now is, "how can this not become an annual event?"

The last 24 hours have seen relative calm and at least there have not been any major changes for the worst.  The great hope is that the winds do not pick up.  Optimistically we hope that the major fires will be controlled by the end of the week.  

School is somewhat trying for the children right now.  Many of the children and faculty members have left to live with relatives elsewhere.  The pervasive smell of smoke and the reddish clouds provide an ongoing reminder of the fires.  Not a lot of work is getting done.

Margaret started school yesterday and had a wonderfully funny travel story - more on that in the next posting.

Be well,

Nord

A lot more than we bargained for

Dear all,

A short post today as we lost our internet connection on Thursday / Friday and I am using the school's computer.

It has been a very surreal last couple of days.  The forecast for Saturday looked miserable and the reality turned out even worse.  The temperature topped out at 117 degrees (highest ever recorded) and howling winds.  This brought on the wildfires to a devastating degree.  We had embers / ashes falling on our house on Saturday evening / night.  Thank goodness the homeowners were well prepared.

We have been very lucky both as a family and school and town community - yet surrounding towns have not been so lucky.

The weather appears to be cooperating which is a huge break.

More later.

Be well,

Nord